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2 ex-Ron Paul aides get probation for paid 2012 endorsement cover-up

By JOSH GERSTEIN

09/20/2016 07:53 PM EDT

Two former campaign aides to Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) were each sentenced to two years probation Tuesday but escaped potential prison terms they could have received for covering up a $73,000 payment to an Iowa state senator for endorsing Paul in the 2012 presidential campaign.

Jesse Benton and John Tate were also sentenced to six months home confinement by U.S. District Court John Jarvey in Des Moines.

Benton served in the current campaign cycle head of America's Liberty, a super Pac supporting Sen. Rand Paul's GOP presidential bid, and later as a strategist for Great America PAC, a super Pac supporting Donald Trump's candidacy.

Benton's current affiliation with the Trump-backing group is unclear. He said in court Tuesday that he expected to work from home as a copywriter if he escaped jail, the Des Moines Register reported.

The newspaper indicated that Jarvey suggested the charges involving false reporting to the Federal Election Commission needed to be kept in perspective compared to other crimes. "It's a serious offense, but it is a regulatory offense," the judge said, according to the Register.

Benton and Tate were initially indicted in 2015, but most of the charges against Benton and all of the charges against Tate were dismissed by the judge before trial. Benton went on trial in the fall of 2015, but was acquitted on a charge of making false statements to the FBI.

Benton and Tate, Ron Paul's campaign manager in 2012, were re-indicted in November 2015, along with Paul's deputy campaign manager, Dimitrios Kesari.

In May, all three men were convicted on conspiracy and other charges stemming from FEC reports indicating the $73,000 was paid to a video production company when, in fact, the money was directed to former Iowa State Sen. Kent Sorenson in exchange for him switching allegiance from the presidential bid of Rep. Michele Bachmann.

Kesari is set to be sentenced Wednesday.

Sorenson pled guilty to a single felony charge in the case in 2014 and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. He is awaiting sentencing.